Ronaldo is far from awake

Ronaldo is said to have left behind a series of embarrassing actions.

In the early morning of November 14, Ronaldo lost control when Portugal lost 0-2 to the Republic of Ireland in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Europe. The elbowing action, from a certain perspective, can be sympathized with any player in a moment of emotional explosion.

But for a 40-year-old icon, who has experienced all the pressures, all the stages, all the big and small events of top football, and moreover, pushed the confrontation to a tense level before the match with inflammatory statements, this psychological slip is really hard to accept.

And worst of all, the problem wasn’t just the elbow that led to his first red card in a national team shirt, but the whole sequence of actions that followed. From the vicious looks, the defiant head shakes, to the sarcastic applause towards the stands as he left the field.

Portugal went to Dublin with a simple mission: win to secure their place at the 2026 World Cup. They failed. This, after all, is not too shocking. The Selecao have never won a competitive match in Dublin. Losing after a seven-match unbeaten run is not too scary. But the problem is that it comes against a backdrop of many signs of decline over the past two months.

The defeat exposed more than tactical or performance weaknesses. It revealed a more worrying truth. Portugal were losing their nerve. From the poor performances in October at Alvalade, when they struggled to beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 and then dropped a win against Hungary in injury time, the signs were alarming.

But coach Roberto Martinez still seems to be trying to see things through rose-tinted glasses. He constantly talks about "good reaction", "many positives", and insists "we played very well" after performances that were clearly lethargic and lacking in fire.

A great team can play badly. But the most dangerous thing is that they don't realize they are bad.

Ronaldo is still protected even though he did wrong.

But the most disappointing detail in Dublin wasn’t Martinez’s excuses. It was Ronaldo’s behaviour. Losing your cool on the pitch is something anyone can do, but the sequence of actions that followed was beyond acceptable.

It was a denial of responsibility, an attitude of shifting the blame to everyone: opponents, referees, fans, except oneself. In the moment of emotional explosion, the Portuguese captain was no longer the image of pride or experience, but the symbol of confusion and self-pity.

Journalist Hugo Vasconcelos criticized bluntly: "Ronaldo made a mistake. The least he should do is apologize. The right thing is to feel ashamed."

But when the head coach still unconditionally protects Ronaldo, saying things like "no violence", "just bad luck", "just trying to push the defender away"... then the motivation for him to reflect on himself is almost zero.

Portugal lost, and they may well get back up. But if the mentality, the sense of responsibility and the sanity of the leadership, both on and off the pitch, are not addressed, the fall in Dublin could be just the start of many more cracks.

"With what happened, Ronaldo is far from waking up," journalist Hugo Vasconcelos concluded.

Source: https://znews.vn/ronaldo-con-lau-moi-tinh-ngo-post1602759.html